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November 1
1800s *1892 - Averages for the first 154-game season show that Dan Brouthers of the Brooklyn Grooms was the top hitter at .335, and Cy Young of the Cleveland Spiders the top pitcher with a 36-11 record. *1894 - Charlie Sweeney, who pitched for the Providence Grays, St. Louis Maroons and Cleveland Blues, is convicted of manslaughter in San Francisco, California. 1900s-1920s *1906 - Pitcher John McCloskey, who had a 3-2 record for the Phillies, has better luck off the field. An investment in the Cripple Creek, Colorado, mine pays off with a rich gold strike. *1909 - The Boston Red Sox hire former Washington Senators skipper Patsy Donovan as manager, replacing Fred Lake. Lake will move across town to manage the Braves next season. *1914 - Philadelphia Athletics owner Connie Mack begins cleaning house, asking waivers on Jack Coombs, Eddie Plank and Chief Bender. Coombs goes to the Brooklyn Robins as Plank and Bender escape Mack's maneuvering by jumping to the Federal League. Despite the pennant, Philadelphia fans did not support the Athletics and the club lost $50,000. *1916 - Harry H. Frazee, New York theater owner and producer, and Hugh Ward buy the Boston Red Sox for $675,000 (one report puts the figure at $750,000) from Joseph Lannin. Bill Carrigan announces that he will retire as Red Sox manager to pursue his interests in Lewiston, Maine. *1922 - Former Philadelphia Athletics catcher Ira Thomas buys the Shreveport club in the Texas League for $75,000. Other former players who own pieces of minor league clubs include Ty Cobb (Augusta), Eddie Collins (Baltimore), and George Stallings (Rochester). 1930s-1950 *1938 - National League batting champ Ernie Lombardi of the Cincinnati Reds is named the Most Valuable Player. Chicago Cubs pitcher Bill Lee is runner-up. *1942 - The Brooklyn Dodgers name Branch Rickey team president, replacing Larry MacPhail who enters the Army. Rickey had resigned as vice-president of the Cardinals only three days earlier. *1943 - MLB statistics show the Chicago White Sox Luke Appling leading the American League hitters with .328, the lowest since Ty Cobb hit .324 to lead in 1908. Conversely, of course, the pitchers' marks were topped by Spud Chandler's 1.64 ERA, the best since 1919. Chandler also has the best winning percentage at .833, on a 20-4 won-lost mark. White Sox outfielder Wally Moses stole 56 bases after stealing only three two years before. The veteran Mel Ott hits only .234 for his New York Giants, but he still has 18 s, all at Polo Grounds. *1946 - Surgeons amputate the right foot of Cleveland Indians owner Bill Veeck. Two years before, the colorful executive had suffered a serious injury to his leg in the South Pacific during World War II. Veeck has had a tremendous impact on promotion in a half season of ownership. A minor but typical change is the regular posting of National League scores on the Cleveland scoreboard, a departure from the long-standing practice of both leagues. In spite of the amputation, Veeck will remain an active owner through the 1970s. *1949 - Gillette buys the World Series television rights for $1.37 million, the money to be dedicated to the players pension fund. *1951 - Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella is named National League MVP for what will be the first of three such awards. *1957 - The Nishitetsu Lions sweep the Yomiuri Giants in the Japanese World Series. 1960s-1970s *1960 - Baltimore Orioles shortstop Ron Hansen is voted American League Rookie of the Year, getting twenty-two of twenty-four votes. The other votes go to teammates Chuck Estrada and Jim Gentile. *1962 - The Houston Colt .45s sign 19-year-old second baseman Joe Morgan as an amateur free agent. Morgan will make his major league debut in 1963, kicking off a 22-year Hall of Fame career. *1966 - Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Sandy Koufax becomes the first three-time winner of the Cy Young Award. He is a unanimous winner for the second-straight year. This is the last year that only one award is given for pitchers in both of the major leagues. *1968 - Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain is the unanimous American League winner of the Cy Young Award. McLain posted a 31-6 record with 280 strikeouts and a 1.96 ERA, helping Detroit to the American League pennant. *1978 - New York Yankees pitcher Ron Guidry is the unanimous choice for the American League Cy Young Award. Guidrry led the league in wins (25), winning percentage (.893), shutouts (9), and ERA (1.74). *1979: **Edward Bennett Williams buys the Baltimore Orioles from Jerold Hoffberger for a reported $12.3 million. **In separate deals, the New York Yankees acquire outfielder Ruppert Jones from the Seattle Mariners and catcher Rick Cerone and pitcher Tom Underwood from the Toronto Blue Jays, giving up seven players, including popular first baseman Chris Chambliss, shortstop Dámaso García, OF Juan Beníquez, and Ps Jim Beattie and Paul Mirabella. Chambliss will be with the Blue Jays a month before they swap him to the Atlanta Braves. 1980s-1990s *1982: **At a meeting in Chicago, the major league owners vote not to renew Commissioner Bowie Kuhn's contract. The American League owners voted in favor of Kuhn 11-3, the National League 7-5. But his eighteen votes left him two shy of the three-fourths majority required for reelection. Kuhn will remain on the job until a successor is found. He will eventually be replaced by Peter Ueberroth. **Doug Rader becomes the twelfth managers in the Texas Rangers twelve-year history. Rader managed the San Diego Padres Triple-A club for the past three years. *1988 - Chris Sabo, who hit .271 with eleven home runs and forty-six stolen bases as the Cincinnati Reds third baseman, wins the NL Rookie of the Year award. Chicago Cubs first baseman Mark Grace is runner-up. *1989 - The Senior Professional Baseball Association begins its first season. The list of retired major leaguers playing in the 35-and-older league includes Hall of Famers Rollie Fingers and Ferguson Jenkins, and former All-Stars like Paul Blair, Vida Blue, Bert Campaneris, Cheo Cruz, Dock Ellis, George Foster, Graig Nettles and Amos Otis. *1993 - Cincinnati Reds owner Marge Schott returns to take over the day-to-day operations of the Reds following her nine-month suspension for using racial and ethnic epithets. *1994 - Plans are announced for the new United League, which plans to compete with the existing major leagues. *1996 - A MLB All-Star team opens their eight-game series in Japan with a 6–5 loss to the Japan All-Stars. Players include Cal Ripken, Jr, Sammy Sosa, Steve Finley, Brady Anderson, Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, Hideo Nomo, Gary Sheffield, Alex Rodriguez, and Shane Reynolds. *1997 - The Negro Leagues Baseball Museum opens in its new home in Kansas City, Missouri. It had been occupying a temporary site there for four years. *1999: **Atlanta Braves coach Don Baylor is hired as the Chicago Cubs manager. **The Cleveland Indians hire hitting coach Charlie Manuel as their new manager. 2000s *2000: **Larry Bowa is hired as the Philadelphia Phillies manager replacing the recently released Terry Francona. The former Phillies' shortstop had managed the San Diego Padres in 1987-88 to a record of 81-127. **Succeeding Davey Johnson, Jim Tracy, the Dodgers bench coach, is hired as the team manager. *2001: **The first major league game ever started in the month of November is a memorable one as the New York Yankees, for the second consecutive night, make a dramatic comeback in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game and go on to victory in extra innings. In an amazing case of history repeating itself, Arizona Diamondbacks closer Byung-Hyun Kim is again victimized, this time by Scott Brosius, who hits a game-tying two out two-run home run to knot the game at 2–2 in the ninth inning, as Alfonso Soriano hit a RBI single with Chuck Knoblauch scoring the winning run in the 12th to give the Yankees a 3–2 victory and 3-2 lead over Arizona in the World Series. Steve Finley and Rod Barajas homer in the fifth for Arizona's runs. **The Houston Astros name Jimy Williams as the franchise's thirteenth manager. Williams, a 35-year veteran who also managed the Blue Jays and Red Sox, replaces Larry Dierker, who despite of reaching the post-season four times in five seasons was unable to win a National League Championship Series. *2004 - Former second baseman Wally Backman signs a two-year contract to manage the Arizona Diamondbacks, last season’s worst team in the majors. Backman replaces interim manager Al Pedrique. *2005: **American League Gold Glove Award winners were announced. Players Kenny Rogers (P), Jason Varitek (C), Mark Teixeira (1B), Orlando Hudson (2B), Chávez (3B), Derek Jeter (SS), Ichiro Suzuki (OF), Torii Hunter (OF) and Vernon Wells (OF) earned honors. **Larry Bowa was hired by the New York Yankees as their third base coach for the 2006 season. A five-time All-Star shortstop, Bowa managed for San Diego and the Phillies, and also coached for the Angels, Mariners and Phillies. Bowa is the first addition to Yankees manager Joe Torre's coaching staff, which lost pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre (who retired) and bench coach Joe Girardi (who became manager of the Florida Marlins). Luis Sojo, who coached third base the last season, is expected to be offered another job by the Yankees. Births *1859 - Bid McPhee, Hall of Fame player and manager (d. 1943) *1893 - Alex Burr, outfielder (d. 1918) *1917 - Pat Mullin, All-Star outfielder (d. 1999) *1965 - Vic Power, All-Star infielder *1954 - Miguel Diloné, outfielder *1956 - Gary Redus, outfielder *1960 - Fernando Valenzuela, All-Star pitcher *1974 - Ryan Glynn, pitcher *1979 - Coco Crisp, outfielder Deaths *1917 - Steve Brady, outfielder (b. 1851) *1944 - Ed Brandt, pitcher (b. 1905) *1951 - Mickey Doolan, infielder (b. 1880) *1961 - Tom Hughes, pitcher (b. 1884) *1974 - Joe Bush, pitcher (b. 1892)